Turkeying Around
by Tanith2011
Summary: A challenge response one-shot to the prompt: Imagine Mike walking into office one morning and entering his cubicle only to see a living turkey walking around on his desk, his paperwork pecked away...how did the bird get there? This one was just for fun! * Edited - thanks to keller12917 for noting my boo-boos!


One could say that Lieutenant Michael Stone was in a jolly good mood, a very good mood, as he strolled into the bureau on a Monday morning. By what he would call nothing short of a miracle, he was able to have the weekend to himself and had spent it with his daughter, Jeannie, who was on a short break from college so she could spend Thanksgiving with him.

The air was crisp, though the sun was shining and the smell of coffee brewing only lifted the detective's spirits.

It had also been two whole days since he had seen his partner's mischievous grin plastered on the young man's clean-shaven face. Yes, he deserved that short, welcoming break, he thought with a small chuckle to himself.

As he walked through the bullpen, he passed Norm, Bill and Lee who returned his greetings and showered him with welcome back, Mike, and smiles that brought one to his own face.

When he reached the end of the line, he noted something or rather someone was missing. Stopping short of his office door, he turned around and scanned the workstations until his eyes landed on one particular desk. Steve's. And it was empty. Where was the young man?

Perhaps he had taken a walk? Or he was picking up some breakfast for the two of them? What a nice thought that was, Mike chuckled inwardly. With a sigh, he decided to make the most of what little time he had to dive into his paperwork before any disruptions presented themselves.

When Mike opened the door to his office, he had expected to see it empty and just as he had left it late Friday night, with a tower of reports resembling the leaning tower of Pisa on his desk but nothing out of the ordinary. He had certainly not expected something so extraordinary and feathery, if there was such a word, to be perched on top of his desk or rather, on the pile of papers littered on what must be his desk.

There were no words to express his shock or was it horror at the scene that greeted him? His blue eyes widened, and his jaw hung slackly as he stood trying to comprehend this mishap. What else could it be but an unfortunate mishap? Surely, he was not seeing what he was indeed seeing? He smacked a hand over his eyes and brought it down in a wiping motion over the bridge of his nose. Nope, not imagining things. Gone was the great leaning tower of Pisa which now resembled rubble.

The magnificent bird stood proudly on top of a torn up manila folder on the desk. Its beady little eyes scrutinized the human who glared at him.

The first thing that popped into Mike's head was a name and a familiar face. Oh, that smirk that must surely be peeking out from some corner of the bullpen! Steve! Heat rose up his collar and he frantically tugged at it, causing his tie that he had spent perfecting all morning to become askew.

Turning on his heel, Mike stormed out of the cubicle leaving behind a flutter of feathers and confetti which had once been the reports that Mike had planned on perusing over. He flew through the outer office in search of the culprit behind the unwelcome committee in his office.

"Mike?" Haseejian tentatively called out when he saw the Lieutenant leaving his office in a rush. He half rose from his chair then sat back down and gave Bill Tanner a puzzled look.

The Lieutenant then made a beeline for Norm and tried not to sound like he was interrogating him. "Where is he?"

"Who?" the Armenian detective asked carefully. If Mike had meant Steve, well, he had popped out of the office on an errand for their Captain.

Mike was at the end of his rope. He leaned forward over the desk, placing his hands on the surface. "Oh you know who! If you're covering for him…"

"Mike, seriously, what's all this about?" Norm asked calmly.

"You mean to tell me you really don't know?" Mike skeptically returned volley.

"If you're looking for Steve, he's been out all morning."

All the more reason to believe the hot shot was the guilty party for that blasted bird pecking its way through his paperwork in his office! "Is he responsible for that...that thing in my office?" Straightening up, Mike rounded on the rest of the team. "Well? Which one of you hotshots know about it? Come on! I expect this from Steve, but I didn't expect you lot to be covering for him…"

The silence in the bureau and Mike's accusatory speech was broken by another voice. "I am.

Mike thought he heard correctly but, no, it couldn't be! He whirled around and sure enough there stood his superior officer. His Captain. A man he respected highly. "Rudy?" He croaked hoarsely.

"Are you talking about the turkey?" Rudy questioned impatiently.

Mike stared wordlessly back at Rudy Olsen who carried a nonchalant expression on his face.

"Well?" Olsen pressed.

"I...but what's it doing in there, Rudy?" Mike pointed weakly in the direction of his office.

"I couldn't very well leave it in mine. I had a meeting with Councilman Matthews," Olsen replied as if this should have been an obvious enough reason.

The sounds of shuffling, quiet sniggers and unnecessary clearing of throats began.

"I still don't understand…"

"Oh, you're wondering why he's here in the office? The turkey?" Rudy's face broke into a small smile.

Mike could only nod having lost all faculty of rational thinking.

"He belongs to my granddaughter, April. She came to visit me and well, she really wanted to show me Mikey. She's gone to get a hot chocolate with Steve. I trust that won't be an issue, Mike? I mean, he's very well behaved," Olsen said proudly. "Didn't touch a single thing in my office. Would you believe it?"

Mike was bursting at the seams to contradict his superior's opinion of the bird's behaviour. He opened his mouth to raise his complaint when a squeal of delight followed by the running of feet met his ears. A small girl with her hair worn in a ponytail had entered the bullpen and ploughed into Rudy then hid behind his legs. She peeked around shyly to look at the stranger in front of her grandfather.

"Mike, I want you to meet April," Olsen beamed. He coaxed the small child out from behind him and placed both hands over her shoulders. "Pumpkin, this is Lieutenant Mikey."

"Lef-tenant Mikey?" April meekly said, struggling to pronounce the detective's title.

Mike's annoyance and frustration melted like hot butter as he bent down slowly and shook the little girl's hand. "Nice to meet you, Sweetheart." A wide grin appeared on his face.

"Where's Uncle Steve, Pumpkin?" Olsen asked gently.

A long drawn out whistle drew the attention of everyone in the room. "She sure got some fire in her! She got away from me," Steve Keller laughed aloud as he joined the trio.

Mike was on the verge of lunging out and strangling his partner but an urgent tug on his sleeve lowered his eyes.

"Your name is Mikey too!" April squealed. "Uncle Steve, this is Mikey just like my Mr. Mikey!"

"Well, whaddya know, huh, Lef-tenant?" Steve smirked and gave his partner a wink. "Say, maybe you could ask Mr. Mikey to fill in for you for the day and get all those reports done."

"Pumpkin, why don't you be a good girl and help Lieutenant Mikey with getting Mr. Mikey back into his cage, huh?" Olsen suggested. "See that room over there? That's where he is. Now, go on."

April nodded fervently, grabbed Mike's index finger and pulled with all her might.

Stone felt he had no choice but to comply. He did, however, glance behind his shoulder and caught the mischievous glint in Keller's eyes as the young man gave him a royal salute.

_Buddy Boy, you are going to pay for this!_


End file.
